Among the worst sins a critic can commit is wasting words on meaningless pontifications or worthless tautologies. When a reviewer can’t come up with anything terribly interesting to say about the subject in question, it’s easy to sit back and spew something self-evident like “Fans of the genre will love this game, but few others will appreciate it.” It is with great trepidation and sadness, then, that I type this phrase on my very screen:

Do Not Fall, developed and published by XPEC Entertainment Inc. and available on PSN for the PS3, is excellent for fans of the genre, but few others will appreciate it.

This may sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s a reality of the genre. Few gamers have the stomach for a game that places an emphasis on platforming the way that Do Not Fall does. As the title indicates, the object of the game is for players to get the drink at the end of the level without falling into the endless abyss below them. This is easier said than done, as most tiles vanish a couple of seconds after you pass over them, and a whole host of creatures want nothing more than to send whatever animal the player controls careening into the void, screaming as though they are being tortured endlessly.

Speaking of which, the voice acting is painful and shrill, at least for the initial protagonist: a bunny with a zipped up vest jacket, wristbands, and an attitude who would fit right into an early 90’s sidescrollers without missing a beat. Players would be wise to collect those 500 nuts as soon as possible to switch to one of the other cute creatures available, none of whom sound quite like they’re auditioning for a victim role in a slasher film when they misstep, unlike the aforementioned rabbit. Otherwise, the voice acting is well done and evokes the necessary emotions to go with the critters on display.

Do Not Fall’s gameplay is simple and controls well. Characters can jump and dash, the latter of which needs a recharge after one usage. With how much horizontal space it covers, dashing is occasionally needed to make a jump, especially in the latter stages, but is mostly used either to break barriers or as a “get out of jail free” card to avoid falling. The controls are tight and precise, as is needed for a game with an emphasis on platforming such as this one.

The graphics are colorful and cartoony, and the music is always appropriate and sometimes catchy. The Milk stage at the farm is accompanied by lots of banjo music, and the Shave Ice snow stage has a song that elicits thoughts of skiing or ice skating down an icy mountain, as it should. The only downside is that art assets and music are the same for all 10 levels of each area, so while there’s a lot of variation in each drink’s area, the levels themselves are very homogeneous artistically.

For a PSN game, there’s a lot of challenge and even more to unlock. Players can use the nuts they collect in the levels to power their characters up to make the game easier or unlock new ones. Unlike your silly reviewer, I’d recommend looking in the shop and noticing these powerups before beating the game entirely. They’ll make collecting the additional screws and completing each level’s challenges and ranks significantly easier, and they may even make Hard Mode a bit less, well, hard.

I was unable to find an online multiplayer match, so I can’t comment on the netplay, but local multiplayer was enjoyable. Each game reminded me of the minigames from Mario Party. Players must complete objectives like knocking balls into soccer goals or claiming territory faster than other players. These games can be played with 3 other players or with the CPU, and they provide a welcome respite from the challenge of single-player mode.

While Do Not Fall brings nothing new to the table, it consists of well-refined and developed platformer gameplay that is harsh but fair. After failing to complete a level for the 15th time, it will almost certainly make you want to throw your controller, but if you’re the type to pick it back up just to beat that one last level, you’ll want to give it a try.

Gameplay

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